Trump’s base is sticking with him through tariff turmoil — as more Americans start blaming him for economy: new poll

Republicans are remaining firmly behind President Trump even as most Americans are beginning to blame him for economic strife that has bubbled up during his tariff push, a new poll found.

A staggering 91% of Republicans believe Trump has a plan amid his tariff blitz, while 84% of Democrats and 57% of Independents say he doesn’t, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll.

In the wake of Trump’s tariff scheme, which led to a stock sell-off that has since somewhat abated and angst in the bond market, many Americans are growing nervous about the state of the economy and fear that the protectionist policies could raise prices domestically.

Although 54% of Americans overall now say Trump’s policies are responsible for the state of the economy after just 84 days in office, only 35% of respondents believe the economy is doing either fairly good or very good.

That’s a stark reversal from Trump’s first term and the 2024 campaign cycle, when he regularly drew high marks on the economy. Now he’s only notching a 44% approve to 56% disapprove rating.

The poll could be an early warning about the political headwinds Trump and Republicans could face if his tariff policies cause further economic tumult.

So far, like GOP voters, Republicans in Congress are inclined towards giving Trump lots of breathing room to negotiate new trade deals with foreign countries.

However, that could change over time if the mood among voters shifts. Already, some Republicans, among them Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), have backed measures to rein in his tariff authority. The measures lack the support to override a presidential veto — at least for now.

Trump has billed his tariff plan as short-term pain for long-term gain. Many Americans indicate that they are starting to feel some of that pain.

A firm 49% believe Trump’s policies are making them financially worse off, marking an uptick from 42% in March.

But they seem split on the ultimate payoff from the tariffs.

In the short term, three-quarters of Americans expect those tariffs to increase prices on everyday goods and services but remain torn over their long-term impact.

Long term, only 42% expect tariffs to make the economy worse, while 23% aren’t expecting a significant impact and 34% believe it will make the economy better, per the poll.

Amid all those concerns, only 37% approve of his approach, while 51% favor his overall goal of bringing jobs back to the US from overseas and getting fairer trade deals with foreign countries.

A whopping 85% of Republicans believe that the tariffs will add more jobs to the US economy, compared to 43% of Independents and 20% of Democrats.

This month, the president rolled out a bevy of tariffs against virtually every country, a move that led to a dramatic market sell-off and sparked fears the country was headed toward recession.

Last Wednesday, he imposed a 90-day pause on most of those tariffs while leaving in place a baseline 10% rate against every country and a 145% total tariff against China.

On Friday, the Trump administration announced an electronics exemption for imports from China, but then on Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the exemption would be temporary and that the president is mulling plans for more permanent duties on those products.

Most also do not believe that Trump intends to impose tariffs over the long run, with 59% suspecting that the president will remove them at some point, according to the poll.

This CBS News/YouGov survey sampled 2,410 adults between April 8 to 11 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 points.